The Inferiority Complex
Previous episode: Sales Resistance Next episode: The Club Election http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/NightgownFred.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/InferiorLucy.jpg Plot Ricky announces that Lucy's been down in the dumps lately. Triplets were born the same night as Little Ricky, and now, another woman at the hospital just gave birth to twins. Only having had one baby, Lucy feels inadequate. This leads to reminiscing about the time Lucy really did develop an inferiority complex. After failing miserably at joke telling and finding out that nobody wants to be her partner for bridge, Lucy begins to develop the inferiority complex. Things only get worse for her self-esteem when she louses up Ricky's breakfast the following morning. Ricky starts getting really concerned about his wife's well-being, so he calls psychiatrist Dr. Henry Molin to help treat Lucy's misery. The psychiatrist tells Ricky to introduce him as an old friend named "Chuck Stewart," not as a doctor. "Chuck Stewart" begins heavily flirting with Lucy, and they end up dancing together. Ricky doesn't like how cozy the psychiatrist is being with his wife, but the psychiatrist keeps telling Ricky it's part of Lucy's treatment. Eventually, Ricky gets jealous and uncomfortable enough to tell Lucy who "Chuck Stewart" really is. Still, the "treatment" did show a way to snap Lucy out of her inferiority complex. Ricky and Ethel figure out that, when the psychiatrist lavished Lucy with attention, she felt much more sure of herself. So, Ricky, Ethel, and Fred coax Lucy into telling jokes again. Lucy hesitates, but once she begins telling her horrible jokes and sees the fake laughter of her husband and best friends, she starts cheering up. Then, it's suggested that they play bridge, and this makes Lucy remember how badly she does that. But this time, everybody pretends to fight over having her as a partner. Lucy is so pleased at the attention. She tells everyone not to fight over her as a bridge partner. They can "share" her. Lucy is so happy that she starts singing in the terrible way she does. But as part of the plan to beat the inferiority complex, the gang has to pretend she's good at that, too! Trivia *Ricky still thinks that "psychiatrist" is spelled "fiz-ee-ky-a-trist," and he looks up the doctor in the phone book under the letter "F." *Author of The Lucy Book, Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, believes that the scene with Lucy and "Chuck Stewart" to be one of the only times the show delves into what could be considered "bad taste." He says that a man flirting with another man's obviously pregnant wife is tacky. But Lucy Ricardo isn't actually pregnant in this episode. While Lucille Ball was pregnant during filming of all of the flashback episodes, Lucy Ricardo is only ever said to be pregnant in the seven episodes directly dealing with her having the baby. So, for the situation it was meant to be, there wasn't bad taste in this episode at all. There are far more risque lines and innuendos in the series that nobody ever seems to mention. *In the intro (before the flashback starts), Ricky says that he doesn't want Lucy getting another inferiority complex over only having one baby. Supposedly, another woman had triplets last week, and some other woman just delivered twins. The triplets delivered the previous week almost have to be the Stanley triplets, who were born the same night as Little Ricky. So, that means that Lucy has been in the hospital for a week postpartum. This either says that even women who had normal births were kept in the hospital a long time afterwards or Lucy Ricardo had to recover from a Cesarean like Lucille Ball did. Quotes *Ricky: I want her to feel that she's getting a lot of attention. Tell me something- if you just had a baby, do you think this dressing robe would do the trick? Fred: Well, if I just had a baby, I'd be getting plenty of attention! *Ethel: (explaining simple joke) The dog read the book! Fred: I got it, I got it! *Fred: Did you hear the one about the fat fella who wandered into the ladies' Turkish bath by mistake one...? Ethel: (interrupts) Fred, is this a story for mixed company? Fred: Of course not! Anyhow, it's about the fat fellow who walked into the ladies' Turkish... Ethel: Fred! Lucy: Ethel, this company isn't mixed, it's married! Ethel: I don't care. It doesn't sound like the kind of story he should tell when there are ladies present. Fred: It isn't! It's about the fat guy who... Ethel: Fred! *Lucy: (struggling to remember joke details) Was it a woman who walked into a restaurant, or was it a man? Ethel: Does it make any difference to the story? Lucy: No. Fred: Well, it made a difference in MY story! *Ricky: You told it wrong. The woman says to the waiter, "Two pork chops, and make them lean." And the waiter says, "Yes, ma'am. Which way?" Lucy: Well, isn't that what I said? Ricky: (laughing) No! Fred: Well, either way, it's hardly a belly laugh... *Ricky: Now, what are you crying about? Lucy: I can't think of anything good at, either! Ricky: Now, honey, you stop talking that way. You're getting an inferiority complex. Lucy: No, I'm not. Ricky: Why, it sounds like it. Lucy: No, I'm not. I don't need a complex. I really AM inferior! *Ethel: I know something you do better than anybody in the whole world. Lucy: What? Ethel: There's nobody who can get their hair the color you can! Lucy: (disappointedly) Thank you... Ethel: That didn't come out the way I wanted it to. Lucy: Neither did my hair! *Lucy: Treatment, Ricky, treatment! *Ethel: You mean laugh like mad if she tells a joke and fight over who's gonna play bridge with her? Ricky: Yeah! Fred: Isn't there some less painful method?﻿